The Mint Report for 02 September 2010

A new study says the number of Indians getting online could shoot up nearly three times by 2015. A report from the Boston Consulting Group says net penetration is likely to reach 19% in the next five years from the current 7%. That adds up to a total of 237 million users.

Reports on Thursday say government-run steel company SAIL has made a short list of banks to handle its stake sale. The banks it has closed in on include J P Morgan, H S B C and Deutsche Bank. S A I L plans a share issue equaling 10 percent of its stake. Half of that will come from the government and the other half from fresh equity. The company could raise as much as one point seven billion dollars from the sale.

Markets inched up on Thursday, recording a second straight day of gains. The Sensex went up 32 to finish at 18,238. And the Nifty ended 14 points higher at 5,486.